Any Horror Fans?

[leighvmewithmy…]

I love mystery books, but I also love horror.  Stephen King and Dean Koontz for example.  Anyone love these authors and what books have you read?  What did you think about them?  What other books or authors are worth reading?  I love a good chill!!!

I've read:

King- Thinner, Pet Sematary, The Colorado Kid, From a Buick 8, Four Past Midnight, and Duma Key (plus I've seen all the movies based on his books-The Mist was great, Cujo a classic)

Koontz-False Memory and Shattered

False Memory is one of my favorites along with Thinner.  These guys keep me up at night!!!

[becke_davis]

I like their books, and also scary romantic suspense authors like Karen Rose. Some of King's books are too scary for me -- Cujo and Pet Sematary, for example -- but I loved The Stand, The Dead Zone, and those earlier books.

[dulcinea3]

Let's see, by King I have read:

Carrie

The Shining

The Stand

Pet Sematary

Needful Things

Gerald's Game

Dreamcatcher

Cell

(I have Lisey's Story, but haven't gotten to it yet)

I don't think I've read anything by Koontz, but I've seen some movies based on his works.

Some other horror novels that I really liked (many years ago, when they came out) were Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco and Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon.  And, of course, anything by Shirley Jackson!

[becke_davis]

I have TWO copies of Lisey's Story -- my husband and I were both going to read it and have our own mini-book-club. Great idea, but we still haven't done it.

[ms_linda]

I'm a big Stephen King fan but for some reason I could not get into Lisey's Story. I think it's the only book of his I haven't finished. I think Gerald's Game is one of the scariest books I've ever read.

[TiggerBear]

You know I've never found King scary at all. Interesting, but not scary.

[becke_davis]

Have you read anything by our visiting author, John Connolly? His short story collection, NOCTURNES, is every bit as scary as Stephen King's NIGHT SHIFT. His Charlie Parker books -- including this month's feature, THE LOVERS, is very scary,too.

If by horror you mean scary, you might also check out Lisa Unger's books (another visiting author), and books by two previous board visitors (you can search their names to access the threads): Karen Rose and Wendy Corsi Staub. Karen's are perfect for horror fans (not paranormal, just terrifying serial killers), while Wendy's are scary suspense. 

[tabcat]

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becke_davis wrote:
I have TWO copies of Lisey's Story -- my husband and I were both going to read it and have our own mini-book-club. Great idea, but we still haven't done it.

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You have made me feel much better about my TBR stacks!  Lisey's Story is the only one of King's books that I've ever purchased and I bought it the first week it hit the stores.  Of course now it can be found in HB for less than the cost of new PB and I STILL haven't read my copy

Tcat

[becke_davis]

Oh, I do that all the time -- decide I can't wait for a book to come out in paperback, and -- you guessed it -- by the time I read it, it IS out in paperback. Best intentions and all that. . .

[dulcinea3]

I thought that Gerald's Game was horrible!  There was a lot of suspense, but then nothing would happen.  Maybe one reason it didn't do much for me was the lack of characters.  I think that writing characters that you become involved with is one of King's strengths.  I was thoroughly disgusted by a lot of Dreamcatcher, but I still wanted to see what happened to the characters.  And when I finished The Stand, I didn't want it to end - I especially wanted to read about Stu and Frannie's life together.

[becke_davis]

The Stand and The Dead Zone were my favorites. Since I like short stories, I also really enjoyed Night Shift. But in many ways, I liked John Connolly's short story collection, Nocturnes, even more.

[leighvmewithmy…]

I have an outrageous 'To Be Read' stack.  I befriended the owner of a used book store and when I'd go in to buy a book, I'd leave with two grocery bags full-all for a few bucks. 

I collect Stephen King first edition hardbacks, I even have a signed copy of Pet Sematary (nice boyfriend).  I have the majority of his books but still need a few of his first ones.

I've never even heard of some of the authors you guys are suggesting but I'm excited to go to the local bookstore and check them out!  Who knows....I might get to add to my ever growing hoard of books!  My boyfriend likes John Connelly so I may have to pick up one of those books next.  My aunt gave me a handful of mystery books but I've never read them:  Lawrence Sanders and Sidney Sheldon. Wondering if they're good......

Message Edited by leighvmewithmyimagination on 07-09-2009 05:28 PM

Message Edited by leighvmewithmyimagination on 07-09-2009 05:30 PM

[becke_davis]

Hey, ask your boyfriend to stop by and post a comment for John Connolly - no one is talking to him but me! 

Oh, I love those places where you can buy bags of used books -- like library sales! 

Message Edited by becke_davis on 07-09-2009 11:42 PM

[tabcat]

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leighvmewithmyimagination wrote:

 My aunt gave me a handful of mystery books but I've never read them:  Lawrence Sanders and Sidney Sheldon. Wondering if they're good......

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I liked the Deadly Sin series of books by Sanders and later he wrote some more lighter murder mysteries.  The Archie McNally ones were the best.  Archie has a dry wit that I found engaging. The last few McNally books were written by someone else after Sander's death, but I thought they captured the feel of the series pretty well and characters did not undergo alteration. 

I read some of Sheldon's in the early-mid '80s.  I liked them, but can't remember anything specific about them. I tried to read a more recent one, but couldn't get in to in.  My tastes in books have changed somewhat so it maybe that was the problem.

Tcat

[Ryan_G]

From Stephen King all I really like were The Stand and It.  Needfull Things and Pet Cemetary were ok.  Other than that never read one I liked.

I was able to get into Dean R. Koontz a bit more.  My favorite books from him are: Strangers, Phantoms, Lightning, and Watchers.

[suga49]

Haven't been here for a while, but have been reading a lot.  I love Dean Koontz and Stephen King.  I can't wait for the new Stephen King novel.  I have Dean Koontz latest on reserve at the library.  I can't wait to read The Strain. 

Karen

[becke_davis]

I'm not just plugging John Connolly because he's visiting this month, I really am a big fan of his books. If you like Stephen King, read any of the stories in Connolly's short story collection, NOCTURNES. I think you'll like him, too.

[AllanAzouz]

Shadows of Souls  May I suggest Shadows of Souls by Allan Azouz?

OK, even though I'm the author, everyone who has read it has loved it. Everyone except one person: my mother.

Message Edited by becke_davis on 07-15-2009 12:33 PM